Display Is Online but Content Never Changes
The screen talks to easyCMS but keeps playing yesterday's content. Read the download status, publish the layout, and clear the cached data remotely.
The screen is online, easyCMS says so, and it is still playing last week’s content. Work down this list in order.
1. Check it is authorised and licensed
These two are the vendor’s own first answers, and they are quick to rule out.
- Open Displays.
- Check the screen is authorised. An unauthorised screen downloads nothing.
- On an Android or LG webOS screen, check the licence. An unlicensed player keeps playing what it has and quietly stops taking anything new. See player licence problems.
2. Read the download status icon
The Displays page tells you whether the screen has even received the new content.
| Icon | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud | Changes are queued for the next connection | Wait one check-in |
| Cross | Downloading right now | Wait, especially if it is a video |
| Tick | Up to date | The content is there, so go to step 4 |
A screen stuck showing “downloading” for a long time usually has a download window too narrow to finish in. Tell us and we will widen it.
Most per-screen fixes start in the row menu.
3. Check the layout was re-published
Editing a published layout creates a new draft. The old version keeps playing until you publish again.
This is the most common cause that looks like a sync failure.
- Open Design > Layouts.
- Find the layout and check its status.
- Publish it if it is showing as a draft.
4. Give it one collection
Changes are not instant. The screen collects on an interval, and a layout already on screen finishes its current item first.
So a screen looping five-minute videos can be several minutes behind you. Wait one full cycle before treating it as a fault.
If changes never arrive quickly, the instant channel may be blocked. See Collect Now Does Nothing and Changes Take Minutes.
5. Clear the cached data
When a screen has the wrong files and will not let go of them, make it throw its copies away and fetch everything again.
- Open Displays.
- Open the screen’s row menu and choose Edit.
- Go to the Advanced tab.
- Tick Clear Cached Data.
- Click Save.
The player clears down and re-downloads at its next check-in.
Clear Cached Data on the Advanced tab. The player re-downloads everything at its next collection.
Watch out Never stop the player and delete files from its library folder by hand. The player manages that folder itself, and emptying it causes more problems than it solves.
6. Check the screen has space
A player with no storage left cannot finish a download, so it keeps playing what it already had. Clearing the cached data above usually fixes this too.
Still showing old content
Send us the display name, what it is showing, what it should be showing, and which steps you have tried.
Related articles: Display Shows as Offline, Your Screen Stopped Taking New Content: Player Licence Problems, Collect Now Does Nothing and Changes Take Minutes, The Screen Only Shows the easyCMS Logo